History of the Courts

On August 25, 1800, the first court was held in Warren. It convened in Ephraim Quinby's corn crib, which stood on Main Street near what is now the Erie Railroad crossing. The chief accomplishment of the court, said to be the first formal governmental agency established in the Western Reserve, was the appointment of a committee to select a place for the jail. The southwest room in Ephraim Quinby's log house was chosen temporarily, and Quinby became the town's first jailor.

The Municipal Courts, as we now know them, were established August 8, 1931, by the Ohio Legislature. The first Judge elected to the Warren Municipal Court was Judge Ralph R. Speak, who served in such capacity until his death in 1950. At present, the court consists of two Judges elected for six-year terms.